Department for Transport

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many off-payroll engagements there were in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's arms-length bodies in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: In 2012, the Treasury published its Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees. It began requiring Departments to report on these arrangements in their Annual Reports and Accounts, and to implement tax assurance processes. The Department for Transport’s Annual Reports and Accounts are all available on gov.uk. The off-payroll assurance process for the current financial year is ongoing and final results will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in June. Data is not available, other than at disproportionate cost, for years prior to 2012, and for those being paid less or who have been engaged to work for less than six months.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Claire Perry: The amount the Department for Transport and its Agencies spent on Research & Development (R&D) in each year since 2010 and the proportion of such spending against the Departmental spending are provided in the table below: Year2010-112011-122012-132013-14Net R&D Spending34,000,00038,000,00038,000,00043,000,000Total Department Spend10,411,727,00012,744,204,00012,549,868,00012,513,124,000Percentages0.33%0.30%0.30%0.34%

Railways: Greater London

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a map showing the assumed origin and destination overground, underground or mainline station in London used to predict the passenger use of Euston and Old Oak Common.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: A map with the details requested has not been produced from the economic case modelling work undertaken. However, section 6b of the HS2 Phase One Environmental Statement Volume 5 Transport Assessment demonstrates the change in passenger flows at Network Rail and London Underground stations across London for the AM and PM peak periods. The document can be viewed here:http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140810181550/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/hs2-environmental-statement/volume-5/traffic/Vol_5_TA_London_assessment_CFA1-3%28Sec6b%29_Part4_wm.pdf

Railways: Greater London

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what formula his Department used to calculate the likely distribution of use between Euston and Old Oak Common of passengers from each London transport zone; and how his Department determined the inputs for that formula.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The distribution of passengers between Euston and Old Oak Common is forecast using the PLANET framework model. This model takes into account the time taken to access stations from passengers’ start locations, the possible route options from starting stations to destination stations, the time to get to final destinations and the level of crowding on trains. Based on this information, the model predicts passengers’ choices on the best starting locations for their journeys. In turn this drives the distribution of passengers between any station options in any area, in this case Euston and Old Oak Common. Full details of the PLANET framework model and how it works can be found on our website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planet-framework-model-pfm-v43-model-description.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the number of passengers who will use High Speed 2 in (a) the year after the opening of Phase 1, (b) the year after the opening of Phase 2 and (c) the last year of the planning period; and how many passengers in each such period his Department forecasts will use (i) Euston and (ii) Old Oak Common station to board or leave the train.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The number of passengers forecast to be travelling on HS2 per day in 2026/27 once Phase One is open is 112,731. The number of passengers forecast to be travelling on HS2 after the opening of Phase Two in 2036 is 302,350. Based on modelling for the economic case for HS2 (October 2013) the forecast number of passengers using Euston to board and leave HS2 services in Phase One is 71,445, and Old Oak Common is 38,040. The forecast number of passengers from the economic case modelling using Euston to board and leave HS2 service in 2036 (3 years after Phase Two has opened) is 158,258. The equivalent number for Old Oak Common is 84,428. Forecasts for other years are not available as the forecasting tools only provide information for two years, the opening year of Phase One (2026) and the year in which the demand cap is reached (2036).

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) surveys, (b) modelling or (c) other methods his Department used to calculate the distribution across London transport zones of High Speed 2 passengers; and whether figures used for such calculations were of mainline or other passengers.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The distribution of existing rail demand across the Greater London area has two steps. The first step spreads the demand across London into 7 high level zones in the PLANET framework model on the basis of National Rail Travel Survey (NRTS) data and ticket sales data. The second step to disaggregate the demand from these high level zones into 1211 smaller zones uses demand distributions from Transport for London’s detailed RAILPLAN model.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the number of passengers from each London transport zone who will board or leave High Speed 2 (HS2) trains in London in each phase of HS2; and what forecast he has made of the number and proportion of such passengers who will so board or leave at Euston.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: There is no specific forecast available of the number of passengers from each London zone who will board or alight from HS2. Our forecasts of the split of passengers between HS2 and other rail services is undertaken at the level of station to station passenger movements as opposed to the level of start locations. Full details of the PLANET framework model and how it works can be found on our website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planet-framework-model-pfm-v43-model-description.

Railways: Greater London

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the level of punctuality was for Southern and Thameslink passenger rail services running into London in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: The Public Performance Measure for Southern for the last 12 months has been 83.6% (up to 28 February 2015) Thameslink services were provided by First Capital Connect until 12 September 2014 and by Govia Thameslink Railway since 13 September 2014. The Public Performance Measure for Thameslink services for the last 12 months has been 85.1% (up to 28 February 2015). The Public Performance Measure for all operators is published online by the Office of Rail Regulation at http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/3

Home Office

Antisocial Behaviour

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution by the Minister of State for Crime Prevention of 23 February 2015 in the Third Delegated Legislation Committee, Official Report, column 6, what estimate her Department has made in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, of the costs of implementation and additional costs arising from commencement of injunctions to prevent nuisance or annoyance; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Mr David Lidington: Information on the total amount of expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on both research and development and the total departmental spending on services is publically available on gov.uk as part of the Country and Regional Analysis statistical release. This information covers 2009-10 through to 2013-14 and can be found at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014This data can be accessed by using either the ‘interactive tables’ or the ‘database’.

Iran

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what restrictions are in place on the export of medical equipment to Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: EU sanctions against Iran are not intended to affect humanitarian goods, and explicitly exclude medical equipment. Furthermore, the Joint Plan of Action includes provisions to make transactions with Iran for humanitarian purposes much easier. Provided no designated entities are involved, the UK issues, as a priority, licenses for transactions for humanitarian goods.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Higher Education: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students from Bradford were the first to go to university from their family in each year since 2005.

Greg Clark: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).The Table shows the proportion of students from Bradford Local Authority area and the UK overall who started a full-time first degree course at a UK Higher Education Institution in the academic years 2008/09 to 2013/14 and who declared that their parents did not hold a higher education qualification. Comparable information is not available for the earlier years.Information for the 2014/15 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2016. Full-time first degree entrants domiciled in Bradford Local Authority and the UK whose parents do not hold a higher education qualificationUK Higher Education InstitutionsAcademic Years 2008/09 to 2013/14  BradfordUK OverallAcademic YearPercentage of entrants whose parents do NOT have any higher education qualificationCount of respondentsCount of students where information is unknownPercentage of entrants whose parents do NOT have any higher education qualificationCount of respondentsCount of students where information is unknown2008/0960%2,04055047%270,34591,0802009/1060%2,28056047%281,41095,5402010/1158%2,22550545%280,60090,8002011/1258%2,44551045%303,69090,8952012/1359%2,27053546%275,43081,5852013/1462%2,74539048%323,85063,110 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record. (1) Domicile refers to a student’s permanent or home address prior to entering their course.(2) More information on how Parental HE is measured is available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_studrec&task=show_file&mnl=14051&href=a^_^PARED.html

Further Education

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average number of subjects or courses offered by further education colleges was in each of the past five years; and what estimate he has made of the average number of subjects or courses that will be offered by further education colleges in each of the next five years.

Nick Boles: Information on the number of course undertaken by government-funded learners at Further Education providers in each academic year is published in the FE and Skills National Aims Report (link below). The Department do not produce forecasts for the number of courses expected to be undertaken in a given year.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/378266/feandskills-national-aims-report-1314.xls

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in his Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively. The Treasury issued £3 million in fines in 2014 and 2015 to a small number of departments who did not fully comply with the requirements of the guidance.Data on the number of off payroll staff engaged in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its Partner Organisations since August 2012 has been published in BIS Annual Reports and Accounts:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-tax-arrangements-for-off-payroll-appointees-august-2012-to-march-2013https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-tax-arrangements-for-off-payroll-appointees-april-2013-to-march-2014 Earlier data is not available.

Technology: Apprentices

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices were doing their apprenticeships in technology companies in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts by sector subject area and framework is published in supplementary tables to a Statistical First Release (SFR) in the FE Data Library:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships Apprenticeship data are not available by industrial sector.

Intellectual Property

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to clarify intellectual property regulations.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Intellectual Property Office as an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills leads on intellectual property issues. The Intellectual Property Office offers a comprehensive range of guidance, self help tools and educational seminars which bring clarity to existing regulations for businesses and consumers in the UK and overseas. Full details are available on gov.uk. Where the Intellectual Property Office receives feedback or evidence that regulations require clarification, it will consider this and set out an appropriate plan for action. We have no immediate plan for new regulations.

Adult Education: Yorkshire and the Humber

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding has been allocated for adult skills in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) each parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2015-16; and what the percentage change is between that funding and the funding allocated in 2014-15.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The Skills Funding Agency does not allocate funding to specific geographical areas. The Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers, some of whom operate on very local geographic footprints, whilst others provide training and skills services to learners and employers across the country. College and training providers are required to work with local enterprise partnerships and local stakeholders to ensure that what they deliver locally is responding to local needs.

Adult Education: North East

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for funding of adult skills in (a) the North East and (b) Stockton North constituency is for 2015-16; and what the percentage change is from that budget in 2014-15.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The Skills Funding Agency does not allocate funding to specific geographical areas. The Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers, some of whom operate on very local geographic footprints, whilst others provide training and skills services to learners and employers across the country. College and training providers are required to work with local enterprise partnerships and local stakeholders to ensure that what they deliver locally is responding to local needs.

Adult Education: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for the funding of adult skills in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Birmingham, Northfield constituency is in 2015-16; and what the percentage change is from the 2014-15 adult skills budget.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The Skills Funding Agency does not allocate funding to specific geographical areas. The Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers, some of whom operate on very local geographic footprints, whilst others provide training and skills services to learners and employers across the country. College and training providers are required to work with local enterprise partnerships and local stakeholders to ensure that what they deliver locally is responding to local needs.

Innovate UK: South West

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the merits of siting the new Energy Systems Catapult project in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Adult Education

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the level of funding his Department will provide to further education colleges for the provision of adult education in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The total budget for post 19 Further Education for 2015/16 is £3,741,472,000.   We do not have any budgets beyond 2015-16 as these will be agreed in the next Spending Review.

Department for International Development

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what amount her Department and its agency spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Justine Greening: Details of DFID’s total spent on centrally commissioned research (via DFID’s Research and Evidence Division) over financial years 2009 to 2014 can be found on the table below.   Table 1   Financial YearDFID’s Total Gross SpendDFID’s Total Spend on Centrally Commissioned ResearchProportion of Centrally Commissioned Research as % of Total DFID Budget2009-10£6.63b£177m2.7%2010-11£7.69b£203m2.6%2011-12£7.68b£222m2.9%2012-13£7.67b£230m3.0%2013-14£10.06b£305m3.0%

Department for Education

Children: Day Care

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to help parents in work with the costs of childcare.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education understands that the cost of childcare can be a concern for many parents. In order to help support parents, the Department has increased funding in the early years from £2 billion to £3 billion a year over the course of this Parliament.   The Department has provided funding for 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three- and four-year-olds, and for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The funding for all three- and four-year-olds is worth £2,500 per child, per year to parents. This gives an additional £425 per child, per year, when compared to funding prior to the last election. The funding for approximately 40% of two-year-olds is also worth £2,500 per child, per year.   In addition, the Department is introducing Tax-Free Childcare, under which up to 1.8 million working families could benefit from up to £2,000 per child, per year.   For working parents on lower incomes, working tax credit pays up to 70% of their childcare costs. This could be worth up to £6,370 for their first child. Under Universal Credit, the subsidy rate will increase to 85% of childcare costs and support will be available, for the first time, to those working fewer than 16 hours per week.   Furthermore, the Department has taken action to give more choice to parents by creating child minder agencies and supporting schools to open nurseries and offer provision from 8am to 6pm. The Department is also introducing shared parental leave.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff in her Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Gibb: The number of staff who were engaged off-payroll in the Department for Education (including its Executive Agencies) can be found online at www.data.gov.uk.  The Department for Education does not collect data on the number of staff engaged off-payroll in its associated bodies.

School Leaving

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the proportion of students who left school having had practical work experience in (a) the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, (b) Berkshire and (c) the UK in each of the last three years.

Nick Boles: Schools are not required to provide information about pre-16 work experience and therefore we do not hold the information requested.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what amount her Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Mr Nick Gibb: The total amount the Department for Education and its agencies has spent on formal research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total Departmental spending, can be found in the table below:   YearResearch Spend Actual (£M)Research expenditure as a proportion of total Departmental expenditure2010-11270.046%2011-12130.023%2012-13140.027%2013-14140.026% The 2010-2013 data is available from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) online at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-352137. The figures we have supplied for research spend for the financial year 2013/14 have already been supplied to the ONS as part of the 2014 Government Research and Development Survey. This survey has yet to be published.

Teachers: Standards

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to enable people with local business expertise to enhance teaching in schools.

Nick Boles: The government wants to see more schools and employers working together to help open young people’s eyes to the world of work. We have funded a new, independent careers and enterprise company to help businesses and schools to engage with each other more easily so that young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life.   Business people also have an important role to play in school governance, bringing a range of transferable skills to help governing bodies carry out their demanding strategic functions. In May 2014 we launched the Inspiring Governors Alliance to bring together all organisations with a role to play in increasing both demand for and supply of high quality governors, particularly from the world of work. We have awarded £1m of funding in 2015-16 to embed a strategic partnership between SGOSS, Governors for Schools and the Education and Employers’ Taskforce at the heart of the alliance to engage employers and help schools find the high quality governors they need.

Free School Meals

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that wider provision of free school meals does not affect take-up of pupil premium funding.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education has communicated with schools and local authorities to remind them of the importance of working with parents to encourage those who meet the benefits-based free school meals (FSM) criteria to continue to register their entitlement. The department has made advice and guidance available to help them to do so, based on best practice and lessons learned in areas which have previously offered universal FSM whilst successfully maintaining their registration rates. This includes the publication of a model registration form, based on forms developed by those areas, which schools can choose to us as part of their enrolment process to gather information from parents to enable them to undertake FSM eligibility checks. We are looking closely at the data on registration for benefits-based FSM gathered through the January 2015 school census, and will take appropriate action if the census shows a significant drop in registration rates among infant-age pupils.We are also exploring what opportunities exist for the more efficient identification of disadvantaged pupils, particularly in the context of Universal Credit being rolled out nationally.

Absent Parents

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will update her guidance to schools on the release of reports and other information on the educational progress of pupils to non-resident parents; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has no plans to issue guidance to schools on this matter. The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005 (S.I 1437) require maintained schools to keep curricular and educational records for each pupil, disclose these records to parents and pupils, and report, at least annually, to all parents on their child’s progress and attainment. Section 576 Education Act 1996 (applicable to The Pupil Information Regulations) provides that the definition of ‘parent’ includes all natural parents, whether they are married or not, and any person who has care of a child, irrespective of whether they are a natural parent or have parental responsibility. The exception applies in circumstances where there is a court order limiting an individual’s exercise of his or her parental responsibility which expressly amends their entitlement to receive such information. If a parent feels that they are not receiving the statutory information to which they are entitled, under education law, from the school, they can complain formally to the school by following its complaint procedure. These statutory duties do not apply to mainstream Academies or Free Schools. As an independent public body, an Academy or Free School is directly responsible, under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), for the collation, retention, storage and security of all information that they produce and hold. In an Academy or Free School, a pupil has the right to a copy of their own educational information under the DPA. In certain circumstances, requests for this information may be made by a parent on behalf of their child.

Children: Day Care

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost per hour of childcare was (a) in a nursery and (b) with a child minder in (i) York Central constituency, (ii) City of York local authority area and (iii) England in 2010 and each subsequent year.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not record childcare costs for parents at constituency or local authority level. Furthermore, the Department does not record day care or child minder costs on an annual basis.   The Department’s Childcare and Early Years Providers survey (2010) indicated that the average hourly fee charged by full day care providers for three-year-olds was £3.60. The same survey conducted in 2013 indicated a figure of £3.90 for three and four-year-olds. The average hourly child minder fee for children of any age was £3.80 in 2010 and £4.10 in 2013. These surveys are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2010 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013   The Family and Childcare Trust also conduct annual childcare cost surveys; these are available at: http://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-costs-surveys

Schools: Admissions

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend the School Admissions Code to allow schools to take into account the length of time a child has been on a waiting list in instances when that length of time has been longer than one year and that child matches that school's admissions criteria.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education currently has no plans to amend the School Admissions Code in this respect. It is government policy that all school places must be allocated in accordance with each school's oversubscription criteria. Such criteria are determined following consultation with the local community and reflect local needs.

Free Schools

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to update the data contained in its publications of Capital funding for open free schools and Revenue expenditure for free schools before the dissolution of Parliament.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department has no plans to update the data before the end of March.   The department publishes capital funding once construction contracts are finalised and data checked, and update GOV.UK following that at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools#history.   Revenue funding data for free schools that opened in September 2014 will be published in due course. Project Development Grant (PDG) and Post Opening Grant (POG) revenue funding data for free schools that opened up until September 2013 has been published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools.

Teachers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many specialist teachers of (a) art, (b) history, (c) English, (d) physical education and (e) drama taught mathematics in state secondary schools in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, (iv) 2012-13 and (v) 2013-14.

Mr David Laws: The information requested could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many planning areas in England are in need of additional primary school places by September 2015; in how many of those planning areas there has never been an application to open a primary or all-through mainstream free school; and how many of these planning areas have no open primary or all-through mainstream free schools.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department collects information from local authorities on the number of school places in state-funded primary and secondary schools as part of the annual School Capacity Collection. Out of a total of 2,444 primary planning areas across England, there were 584 primary planning areas where the local authority forecast for 2015/16 (from May 2014) was greater than the capacity as reported at May 2014. This comparison of forecasts and capacities does not take into account the number of additional places that have been or will be created after May 2014, through targeted basic need projects, new free schools, and places being provided through local authority projects.   In the early stages of the free school policy, proposer groups were not obliged to provide a specific site for their proposed school so we are unable to ascertain the number of planning areas in need of additional primary school places in 2015 where there has never been a primary or all-through free school application. As at May 2014, 573 of the 584 planning areas in need of additional school places by September 2015 did not have an open primary free school or all-through primary free school. Ten of these planning areas had a primary-phase free school open in September 2014.   Every free school has been opened in response to either the need to provide extra school places, the need to provide parents with greater choice or the need to provide more high quality school places. Almost three quarters of free schools have opened in areas with a forecast need for more places and 94 per cent of free schools approved since January 2014 plan to open in areas with a need for more school places.

Ministry of Justice

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Information on the total amount of expenditure by the Ministry on both research and development and the total departmental spending on services is publicly available on gov.uk as part of the Country and Regional Analysis statistical release. This information covers 2009-10 through to 2013-14 and can be found at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014This data can be accessed by using either the ‘interactive tables’ or the ‘database’.

Prisons: Private Sector

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funds his Department allocated to contractors to manage each privately-run prison in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Andrew Selous: The following table shows the annual expenditure for the contracted prisons for each of the last three financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 for which information is available. PrisonOperatorDirect Resource Expenditure (£000s)  2011-12 (restated)2012-132013-14AltcourseG4S46,21946,49445,538AshfieldSerco26,42627,66023,451BirminghamG4S14,02230,03528,611BronzefieldSodexo27,62928,87329,871DoncasterSerco19,71418,27317,789DovegateSerco37,57338,84639,331Forest BankSodexo34,62635,68237,187Lowdham GrangeSerco26,06327,47828,128NorthumberlandSodexon/an/a11,352OakwoodG4Sn/a24,80019,473ParcG4S58,52959,41356,708PeterboroughSodexo32,41833,08534,133Rye HillG4S18,66319,13819,997ThamesideSerco14327,56131,027WoldsG4S8,4708,5982,157 To note within the Table:1. Birmingham transferred to the management of G4S on 1st October 20112. Thameside became operational on 27th March 20123. Oakwood became operational on 24th April 20124. Wolds transferred to Public Sector management on 1st July 20135. Altcourse had Cabinet Office savings initiative from 2011 c £1m per year6. Altcourse had 96 Additional Prisoner Places (APP's) deactivated in Dec 2012 and 75 deactivated in April 20137. Forest Bank has a disinvestment of c £1m per year from July 20128. Parc had 138 APP's deactivated in April 20139. Oakwood had £7.2m of fixed costs included in 2012-1310. Thameside became operational at the end of 2011-12 and "ramp-up" progressed through 2012-1311. Northumberland (merger of HMPs Acklington and Castington) transferred to the management of Sodexo in December 2013  Expenditure between prisons and years is not directly comparable, as this may vary due to a number of factors, including inflation uplift, contract variations, new prisons becoming operational or prisons transferring between the public and private sector, and additional prison places being commissioned or decommissioned. The Department is committed to delivering prison capacity changes designed to modernise the prison estate and, where possible, reduce prison costs, whilst maintaining a high quality service. From the financial years 2009-10 to 2013-14 there was a real terms reduction of 17% in the overall average cost for each prisoner in England and Wales, with a reduction of 5% achieved during the last financial year 2013-14. The Department routinely publishes annual net resource expenditure for individual prisons in England and Wales each year alongside the management information addendums to the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts. The most recently published figures for financial year 2013-14, can be accessed by the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201314 The published expenditure figures for 2012-13, and restated figures for 2011-12 can be accessed by the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201213 Expenditure for financial year 2014-15 is not yet finalised and will be published in due course after the end of this financial period.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Safety

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226517, if he will place a copy of the review by the Tornado Collision Service Inquiry Panel in the Library.

Mr Philip Dunne: A copy of the review is attached.



227404 - Tornado Collission Service Inquiry Panel
(PDF Document, 1.22 MB)

USA

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement by the Chief of Staff of the US Army that he was very concerned by the UK's defence budget.

Michael Fallon: The UK has the second largest defence budget in NATO, and is meeting the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence. In addition the UK will spend more than £160 billion over the next 10 years on new and improved equipment for the Armed Forces.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces have been made redundant in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Air Force: Cadets

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress is being made by the RAF on recruitment to the Northern Ireland University Air Squadron.

Mr Philip Dunne: Following confirmation earlier this month that the Royal Air Force would establish a Northern Ireland University Air Squadron at Aldergrove, two squadron staff posts are in the process of being established and expect to be recruited in time for the next academic year of 2015-16. There will be 24 student places from September 2015.

Air Displays: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on RAF participation in and support for the Northern Ireland Airshow at Portrush in September 2015.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2015 to Question 226869, for what reasons the Answer stated that approval for the Maritime Heritage Foundation to manage the site of HMS Victory 1744 has not been removed, when in his letter of 27 February 2015 to Lord Lingfield he stated that he had decided to withdraw that approval.

Mr Philip Dunne: The letter of 27 February 2015 from my right Hon. Friend, the Defence Secretary, to Lord Lingfield concerns the withdrawal of the approval to recover at risk surface artefacts from the site of HMS Victory 1744, not the Maritime Heritage Foundation's management of the wreck site itself. The letter also made clear that the related issues raised in a Judicial Review application, that has now been withdrawn, are being considered by officials; it would therefore be inappropriate to comment until this process is concluded.

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 3 of Annex F of MAA RA 1210, how and when he expects the validity of Tornado GR4 ALARP statement to be decided by the appropriate court.

Mr Philip Dunne: There are no current or pending court proceedings in which the validity of the Tornado GR4 As Low As Resonably Practible statement would be decided.

Reserve Forces

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any recent study has been made of the value for money and operation of the Reserve Forces and Cadets' Associations.

Mr Julian Brazier: An internal review of the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations was undertaken between August and December 2014. The review was initiated in order to consider what Defence requires of the Associations and to propose any change to outputs, processes, structure or staffing that would better meet Defence needs. The recommendations resulting from the review are currently being considered as part of wider business as usual in the Ministry of Defence.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) York Central constituency and (b) City of York local authority area had their housing allowance abated because of the under-occupancy penalty in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested by local authority and parliamentary constituency in Great Britain is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from farmers required to submit single farm payment applications online on concerns related to poor broadband speeds and access in rural areas.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State has received a number of representations from farmers and industry associations regarding the online submission for Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims. From Monday 23 March, farmers and their agents can use established forms and processes to complete their claims by the deadline. The RPA will input the data into the core system. All agents will soon have received maps of their clients’ land and those dealing with the most complex cases will be offered additional support. The RPA is also working to give them direct access to the system. If farmers or agents need help they should contact the Rural Payments Agency helpline on 0300 0200 301.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons farmers are currently unable to register online for the new single farm payment application.

George Eustice: All farmers and landowners are able to register to use the Rural Payments service using either GOV.UK Verify or through the Rural Payments Agency helpline (0300 0200 301). As of 18 March 2015 72,070 had done so. This represents 84% of anticipated claimants. We are encouraging any farmers who have not yet registered to do so.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many private and public sector housing completions there were in England in each year from 1985 up to the latest year for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: Annual statistics on house building completions by tenure in England are published in the Department's live table 244 which is available at the following link.http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building Taken together, house building statistics by housing association and local authority tenures provide estimates of total social housing completions, but these figures understate total affordable supply. This is because the house building figures are categorised by the type of developer rather than the intended final tenure, leading to under recording of affordable housing, and a corresponding over recording of private enterprise figures.  A more complete account of additional affordable housing including new build and acquisitions is provided for England and is published in the Department’s live table 1009, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

Social Rented Housing: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households in Blackpool South constituency were on local authority housing waiting lists in (a) May 2010 and (b) February 2015.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on the numbers of households on local authorities' housing waiting lists in each local authority district, including Blackpool, are published in the Department's live table 600, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenanciesThese statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.In the Blackpool local authority area, housing waiting lists under the last Labour Government rose from 4,159 in April 1997 to 6,769 in April 2010. Under this Government, they have fallen to 4,843 as of April 2014.

Housing: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families were recorded as living in overcrowded conditions in Blackpool South constituency in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available.

Brandon Lewis: The social housing reforms in the Localism Act have given local authorities and social landlords the tools they need to tackle overcrowding; while retaining the reasonable preference provisions in the allocation legislation which ensure that overcrowded families continue to get priority for social housing. HomeSwap Direct is there to make it easier for overcrowded social tenants to swap with those who want to downsize. The removal of the spare room subsidy also encourages the more effective use of social housing, by addressing the under-occupation of family homes. Our Affordable Homes Programme is on track to deliver 170,000 new affordable homes between 2011 and 2015, with £19.5 billion of public and private funding. A further £38 billion public and private investment will help ensure 275,000 new affordable homes are provided between 2015 and 2020. Data on occupancy at the local authority level from the 2011 Census is published at:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-wards-and-output-areas-in-england-and-wales/rft-qs412ew.xls

Affordable Housing: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes were built (a) for rent and (b) for purchase in Blackpool South constituency in each year from 2010 to 2015.

Brandon Lewis: From April 2010 to September 2014, 400 affordable homes have been delivered in Blackpool.Statistics on total additional affordable housing provided in England and in each local authority district , including Blackpool, are published in the Department’s live table 1008, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyThey include both newly built housing and acquisitions and do not show separate figures for rent and purchase.These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

Non-domestic Rates: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of small firms and shops likely to be affected by the planned reduction in business rates in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire in 2015-16.

Kris Hopkins: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 business rate bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes: doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 400,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 200,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief;a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;increasing the temporary discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 from £1,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 200,000 properties in England; andextending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000. These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including: a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops;allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property;business rates relief for empty new builds; andallowing businesses to pay their business rate bills over 12 months, in order to assist with their cash flow. Central Government also now funds 50% of any additional local discounts granted. The Department does not collect data on a constituency basis, but Pendle constituency lies entirely within the boundary of Pendle Borough Council. Table 1 (attached) shows the estimated number of properties in 2015-16 within the boundary of Pendle Borough Council that benefit from business rates measures extended in this year’s Autumn Statement. Table 2 (attached) presents the same information for properties within Lancashire County Council.



Table 1 and Table 2
(Word Document, 29.63 KB)

HM Treasury

Oil: Prices

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when Ministers of his Department last met representatives of the oil and gas industry to discuss the fiscal implications of falling oil prices for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Priti Patel: The government understands the challenges currently facing the UK oil and gas industry and is engaging closely with stakeholders on this. We have been proactive in our response to the fall in oil price. Budget 2015 announced an ambitious programme of reform across the oil and gas tax regime to make sure the North Sea continues to attract investment and safeguard the future of this vital national asset. The government announced an immediate cut to the rate of the Supplementary Charge, from 30% to 20%, which is already in effect; a reduction to Petroleum Revenue Tax, from 50% to 35%, from January 2016; and the introduction of a new Investment Allowance to support investment in the UK Continental Shelf. This package is expected to deliver over £4bn of additional investment and increase production by 15% by 2019, the equivalent of 0.1% of GDP. Details of meetings between Treasury Ministers and external organisations are published on the Gov.UK website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.

Corporation Tax

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there is a lower corporation tax limit for clubs, voluntary organisations and charities below which such organisations are not required to submit corporation tax returns.

Mr David Gauke: Where the corporation tax liability of a club or an unincorporated organisation does not exceed £100, and where that club or organisation is run exclusively for the benefit of its members, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will not generally require that club or organisation to complete corporation tax returns. HMRC review such treatment every 5 years. This treatment does not apply to companies which are wholly owned by, or subsidiaries of, charities.   HMRC recognises that asking a charity to formally claim tax relief every year would be administratively burdensome and therefore they do not require every charity to file a tax return every year.   However, they do require every charity to file a tax return once every few years so that they can check that the charity is claiming any tax exemptions and reliefs in accordance with the law. In addition, charities have an obligation to complete a tax return where they have reason to believe that they should be paying tax on some of their income or gains.   If HMRC send a notice to a charity to file a tax return, the charity must complete it and submit it within the time limits given on the forms or they may face a penalty.

Electronic Cigarettes: Taxation

Mark Garnier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the European Commission and his counterparts from other EU member states on the taxation of e-cigarettes.

Priti Patel: There are not been any ministerial level discussions with the European Commission or other EU member states on the taxation of e-cigarettes.

Electronic Cigarettes: Taxation

Mark Garnier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on proposals for EU-level harmonised taxation on e-cigarettes; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: There are no proposals for EU-level harmonised tax treatment of e-cigarettes.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Green Deal Scheme

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 224408, on Green Deal Scheme, how many assessor organisations and installers those proportions represent; and for what reasons each such authorisation was removed.

Amber Rudd: I can confirm, as of 9 March, that 43 Green Deal assessor organisations and 324 Green Deal installers have had their authorisation as a Green Deal participant removed. The reasons for removal include:Ceased trading: legal entity has ceased trading; non-renewal of membership: installer or assessor organisation has not renewed their membership; the withdrawal by Certification Body for non-compliance: installation quality did not meet the appropriate standard.Certification Bodies and the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body hold the data regarding the reasons why each Green Deal participants have had their authorisation removed.

Offshore Industry

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when Ministers of his Department last met representatives of the oil and gas industry; what was discussed at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the www.gov.uk website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&publication_type=transparency-dataMeetings from July 2014 to December 2014 are currently being collated and checked prior to publication.

Energy Supply

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219617, whether further evaluation of the benefits of supporting projects of outside the UK has been undertaken since the publishing of that paper in August 2014; and if he will reconsider the expansion of the list of technologies eligible for support from UK CfDs.

Matthew Hancock: The priority of the department is to finalise the implementation of the CFD scheme across the UK.There has been no further evaluation into the benefits of supporting projects outside of the UK since publishing the paper in August 2014.

Housing: Energy

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the change in levels of fuel usage in the last 10 years due to greater household energy efficiency.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electricity: Prices

Mr John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average industrial electricity price is in the (a) UK and (b) US.

Matthew Hancock: Estimates of average annual industrial electricity prices for IEA countries, including the UK and USA, are shown in Table 5.3.1 of DECC’s publication Quarterly Energy Prices (QEP).The table is available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388200/qep_531.xls

Electricity Generation

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will make a comparative assessment of the total systems cost of meeting the 2020 target for emissions reduction from electricity generation using (a) conventional fuels and (b) non-conventional fuels.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Natural Gas: Prices

Mr John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the current average industrial gas price is in the (a) UK and (b) US.

Matthew Hancock: Estimates of average annual industrial gas prices for IEA countries, including the UK and USA, are shown in Table 5.7.1 of DECC’s publication Quarterly Energy Prices (QEP).The table is available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388202/qep_571.xls.

Cabinet Office

Technology: New Businesses

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new technology businesses have been registered in (a) Windsor constituency, (b) Berkshire and (c) the UK since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Technology Businesses
(PDF Document, 127.88 KB)

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Mr Francis Maude: Complete information is not held centrally.

Conditions of Employment

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, (a) how many people and (b) what proportion of the workforce were employed on zero hours contracts in (i) York Central constituency, (ii) City of York local authority area, (iii) England and (iv) the UK in 2010 and each subsequent year; and what the average number of hours worked each week by such people was in each such year.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
(PDF Document, 216.47 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mrs Helen Grant: New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees. The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors. The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively. Off-payroll engagements for more than £220 per day and that last for longer than six months:Department /ALB2013-142012-13DCMS2824Ofcom251Olympic Delivery Authority1338British Library79Equality & Human Rights Commission715Visit Britain60British Museum50British Film Institute30Tate20UK Sport20V&A10Arts Council England02National Gallery03Natural History Museum05Sport England01Data Source: DCMS Annual Reports 2012-13 and 2013-14 The following Arm’s Length bodies have not used off-payroll engagements for more than £220 per day and that last for longer than six months: · Churches Conservation Trust· English Heritage· Gambling Commission· Geffrye Museum· Horniman· Horse race Betting Levy Board· Imperial War Museum· National Heritage Memorial Fund /Heritage Lottery Fund· National Museums Liverpool· National Portrait Gallery· Royal Armouries· Royal Museums Greenwich· Science Museum Group· Sir John Soane’s Museum· Sports Ground Safety Authority· The Royal Parks· Wallace  For appointments prior to this and below this threshold, the cost to provide the numbers would be disproportionate.

Football: Qatar

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make representations to FIFA on reducing deaths among workers constructing stadia and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mrs Helen Grant: The British Government takes the issue of migrant workers rights seriously and we would expect FIFA to do the same. We are encouraged by the steps taken by the Qatari Government in response to concerns about the rights of migrant workers and continue to support efforts where we can. The Qatari Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy has responsibility for those working on 2022 World Cup infrastructure and has ensured that a Workers Charter is incorporated into all infrastructure contracts to protect workers.

Department of Health

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies spent on consultancy services in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to date.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Holding answer received on 12 March 2015



Since 2009-10, the Departmental Group, as defined at the end of the 2013-14 financial year, has spent 25% less on consultancy services, equating to a £194 million reduction in costs.   Total Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB) spend on consultancy services in the year 2013-14 is shown in the table below. Data for 2014-15 will not be available until the accounts are published after the financial year end.   NDPB Consultancy Spend 2013-14 £000s  NHS England56,745Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority0Human Tissue Authority0Monitor23,065Care Quality Commission5,881Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care0Health & Social Care Information Centre0National Institute for Health and Care Excellence0NDPB total85,691   Consultancy services are defined as “The provision to management of objective advice and assistance relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation in pursuit of its purposes and objectives. Such assistance will be provided outside the ‘business as usual’ (BAU) environment when in-house skills are not available and will be of no essential consequence and time-limited. Services may include the identification of options with recommendations and/or assistance with (but not delivery of) the implementation of solutions.”   The figures provided are disclosed as expenditure on “consultancy services” in the administration and programme costs notes in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.   NHS administration spending is down from 4.27% in 2010 to 2.77% currently. This has resulted in £5 billion of efficiency savings, which is now being put into frontline patient care.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff in his Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The number of staff (expressed as Full Time Equivalents: (FTE)) engaged ‘off payroll’ - defined as agency workers, contractors and consultants - by the Department and its executive agencies: the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Public Health England (PHE) are given in the tables below.   Figures for the Department Financial YearTotal FTE2010 - 11507.12011 - 12353.12012 - 13399.52013 - 14262.72014 – 15 to date187.5   Figures for MHRA Financial YearTotal FTE2010 - 11Nil2011 - 12Nil2012 - 132.02013 - 143.02014 – 15 to date2.7   Figures for PHE (Established 1 April 2013) Financial YearTotal FTE2013 - 14490.92014 – 15 to date283.7

Diabetes

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements his Department has in place to monitor and assess the progress of local clinical commissioning groups in implementing the recommendations of NHS England's Action for Diabetes strategy.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to implement the recommendations of Diabetes UK's report State of the Nation (England): Challenges for 2015 and beyond, published in January 2015.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures and indicators his Department uses to monitor and assess the quality of diabetes care.

Jane Ellison: Diabetes UK’s State of the Nation report called for good care for everyone with diabetes, and a greater focus on prevention. Over recent years, the quality of NHS services for people with diabetes has improved and, as a result, so have health and care outcomes.   NHS England has prioritised the prevention of Type 2 diabetes. It has recently launched a programme which will make England the first country to implement at scale a national Type 2 diabetes prevention programme, modelled on our own and international proven experience. It will link into the NHS Health Check programme, which helps identify people between 40 and 75 at risk of diabetes early on so that action can be taken to prevent the disease from occurring. In the last year, almost 3 million NHS Health Check offers were made and almost 1.5 million appointments were taken up.   Outcomes for people with diabetes are measured through the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set, which are both updated and published annually. This provides clear, comparative information for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), health and wellbeing boards, local authorities, patients and the public about the quality of health services commissioned by CCGs and the associated health outcomes. Reviewing progress against these indicators forms part of NHS England's on-going assurance of CCGs.   In addition, Public Health England has produced Healthier Lives: Diabetes, an online tool with interactive heat maps demonstrating prevalence, complications, levels of care provided and the quality of care achieved for people with diabetes by local authority, clinical commissioning group and general practice. This allows local comparisons to be made against the England average as well different localities.   Action for Diabetes set out a broad vision and direction for how NHS England will support improvements in outcomes for people with and at risk of diabetes in the coming years, as a direct commissioner of services and supporting CCGs in their commissioning role. There were no recommendations specifically for CCGs to deliver.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

George Freeman: Total spend by the Department and its agencies on research and development (R&D) in the years 2010-11 to 2013-14 is shown in the table below.2010-112011-122012-132013-14R&D spend (£ million)9669669951,049R&D spend as proportion of total departmental spend (per cent)0.90.90.9 0.9

Brain Cancer

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a ketogenic diet in treating brain cancer patients.

Jane Ellison: No such assessment has been made.

Procurement

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what technologies are being developed with support from the Small Business Research Initiative programmes of (a) his Department and (b) NHS England; and what assessment he has made of the future potential uses of those technologies.

Jane Ellison: The Department, through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), is currently funding the development of a number of technologies aimed at promoting patient empowerment and sustainability in kidney care. Six phase 2 SBRI contracts valued at £2 million were awarded in February 2015. The technologies being developed range from diagnostics to digital solutions, for use in the home and in secondary care. Potential uses include early infection detection in patients on peritoneal dialysis, prevention of acute kidney injury and renal patient transport.   The Department is also supporting, through SBRI, the development of enabling technologies for genomics sequence data analysis and interpretation. In March 2015 five phase 2 SBRI contracts, valued at £8 million, were awarded for the development of next generation sequencing technologies which were assessed as having the potential to help deliver the Prime Minister’s 100,000 Genome Project. Potential uses are in the areas of diagnostics related to genome screening, clinical research, gene-discovery and wider use of stratified medicine. The technologies are hoped to provide more accurate variant calling and annotation pipelines, new ways of expressing the reference genomes, improving human leukocyte antigen genotyping and intuitive user interfaces to allow clinicians to interpret variants from next generation sequencing machines.   The NHS England SBRI Healthcare programme currently has 138 contracts with companies to develop innovative technologies to address known healthcare needs. These range from diagnostics to digital management solutions; embracing conditions such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and patient safety and bringing solutions for mental health, primary and acute care. Assessment of the programme by the Office of Health Economics and the SBRI Healthcare team in 2014 has shown that since 2012 the pipeline has a potential to secure £434 million efficiency savings each year for the next decade. Assessment of the programme also shows that 150 jobs have been created, 31 patents awarded and over £10 million of additional investment has been leveraged.   The technologies supported include a light therapy sleep mask for the prevention of diabetic retinopathy; ultraviolet scope enabling intraoperative visibility of cancer cells in surgery; a point of care cardiac diagnostic to fully diagnose a heart attack within 20 minutes and a blood test to definitively rule out a diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Homeopathy

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings Ministers of his Department have held with external organisations to discuss the efficacy of homeopathy in healthcare since 2010.

Jane Ellison: There have been no ministerial meetings with external organisations to discuss the efficacy of homeopathy in health care since 2010.

Astrology

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received since 2010 on the efficacy of astrology in healthcare.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not received any representations since 2010 on the efficacy of astrology in healthcare.

Health Services: Devon

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the final report by PwC on the financial challenge facing the NHS in Devon, which was completed in August 2014.

Jane Ellison: Monitor, the NHS Trust Development Authority and NHS England jointly commissioned work to support the 11 local health economies (LHEs) that were identified as being financially challenged, including Devon.   We are advised that consultancy firms (in Devon’s case, Pricewaterhouse Coopers) were not commissioned to produce a report as described in the question, but to support the LHEs with the development and strengthening of their strategic plans.   Work based on this support is ongoing, and a number of steps have to be taken in each of the LHEs. These include the consideration of strategic plans, consultations on possible reforms and the implementation of recommendations flowing from this. It would not be appropriate to release information ahead of these steps.

Health Services: Devon

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with NHS England on the increasing financial deficit in NHS organisations in Devon.

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on potential intervention measures to address financial problems in the NHS in Devon; what criteria will be used to decide on the timing of the application of such measures; and whether he expects the application of such measures to be affected by the timing of the general election.

Jane Ellison: This is a matter for the National Health Service.   Devon is one of eleven financially challenged health economies to be provided with support from NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority to develop and strengthen their strategic plans. The report of this joint work was published in December 2014 and is attached.   Work based on this support is ongoing in each of the local health economies. This includes the consideration of strategic plans, consultations on possible reforms and the implementation of recommendations flowing from this. The timescales for these processes will be different in each of the 11 areas.   We hold meetings with NHS England on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including NHS services in the South West of England. 



Joint report of strategic plans
(PDF Document, 320.58 KB)

Cancer

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time was for cancer test results (a) at York Hospital and (b) in England in 2009-10 and each subsequent year.

Jane Ellison: Information is collected on waiting times from referral to test, but not from test to test result and is published online at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/   The collection includes all waits for 15 key diagnostic tests and procedures, but it is not possible to identify which were for suspected cancer.

York Hospital

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time was for elective inpatient or day-case treatment at York Hospital (a) overall and (b) in each speciality in 2009-10 and each subsequent year.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Information available at Trust level is included in the attached table for York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.   



Data of waiting times per speciality-York Hospital
(Excel SpreadSheet, 41.16 KB)

Drugs: Young People

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people under 18 years of age have been treated in NHS-funded mental health units for cannabis-induced psychosis in each of the last five years.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is to the NHS of caring for people suffering from (a) addiction to skunk cannabis and (b) mental or physical ill-health as a result of the use of skunk cannabis in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The table below shows finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of cannabis-induced psychosis, for patients aged 0-17 in the period 2009/10 to 2013/14. This is not a count of people as one person may have had more than one admission episode within the same time period. The clinical codes used for collecting data do not distinguish between different forms of cannabis or between different cannabinoids. Nor does the information identify the type of unit where the patient was treated. Information on the cost of providing healthcare to people misusing or dependent on cannabis is not available.   Count of FAEs1 with a primary or secondary diagnosis2 of cannabis-induced psychosis3, for patients aged 0-17, 2009-10 to 2013-144   Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector YearFAEs  2009-1027  2010-1132  2011-1224  2012-1322  2013-1438Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre   Notes: 1 Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.   2 Number of episodes in which the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.   3 Clinical Coding Clinical codes used to identify cannabis-induced psychosis:   F12.5 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids Psychotic disorder Includes but is not limited to cannabis induced psychosis   F12.7 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids, Residual and late-onset psychotic disorder Includes but is not limited to cannabis induced late onset psychosis   4 Assessing growth through time (Admitted patient care) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Drugs: Young People

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people under 18 years of age have been referred to addiction treatment services in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows the numbers of under 18s receiving treatment for substance misuse problems in England for the last five years.   2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-1423,52821,95520,68820,03219,126 Source: The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)

Contraceptives: Young People

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has conducted or commissioned research into whether there is a link between the promotion of hormonal contraceptives in teenage pregnancy reduction schemes and levels of sexually transmitted infections in young people.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the assertion that there is some evidence that emergency hormonal contraception schemes are associated with higher teenage conception rates, in the article, The impact of emergency birth control on teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, by Professor David Paton of the Nottingham University Business School, published in the Journal of Health Economics in March 2011.

Jane Ellison: No assessment has been made of the publication in question.   In 2013, the under 18 conception rate was 24.3 per 1,000 women aged 15-17, a fall of 12.3% from 2012 and the lowest rate for 40 years. No research has been commissioned into the links between use of contraception and rates of STIs in young people.

Contraceptives

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements are in place to monitor side-effects resulting from women's use of emergency hormonal contraception.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has considered on the long-term effects of repeat use of emergency hormonal contraception on women's health.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the long-term effects on women's health of emergency hormonal contraception given without (a) prescription and (b) monitoring multiple use.

George Freeman: In the United Kingdom emergency hormonal contraception is available from pharmacies, with or without prescription as Levonelle/Levonelle One Step (levonorgestrel-containing products) and as ellaOne (containing ulipristal acetate). Product licences were granted following advice from the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines (formerly the Committee on Safety of Medicines) and the European Union’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use respectively, based on a review of all the available evidence for safety, efficacy and quality.   As with all other licensed medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) keeps the safety of emergency hormonal contraception under close review using a number of data sources. These include reports of suspected adverse drug reactions, provided by health professionals and patients through the ‘Yellow Card scheme’ , periodic safety update reports, published medical literature and the results of any new clinical trials or epidemiological studies. Any of these data sources may include information on single use, repeat use or suspected long-term adverse effects.   No clinical studies of the long term safety of emergency hormonal contraception have been conducted. However, levonorgestrel has been available worldwide since the 1980s. Since then millions of women have used it for emergency contraception and no major safety concerns have arisen. For the more recently authorised ellaOne a pregnancy registry to collect further information on the safety of ellaOne has been established and could yield long-term safety data in the future. Clinical trial data show that the safety of repeated administration of ellaOne is comparable with that of a single dose. Information provided for health professionals and women advises that emergency hormonal contraception should be used as an occasional method and encourages repeat users to seek advice on regular contraception.   As with all marketed medicines, the MHRA will continue to monitor the use of emergency hormonal contraception.